Baku, Azerbaijan, May 29
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iran's oil income is predicted to be halved to $24 billion in the current Iranian fiscal year, which began on March 21, Alireza Saleh, the deputy director of the Management and Planning Organization of Iran, stated.
The country's oil income will stand at $24 billion, which is nearly half of the past year's income, Iran's ILNA news agency quoted Saleh as saying on May 28.
Despite a slight rise in Iran's oil exports in the wake of the nuclear agreement, the country's oil revenues have fallen sharply because oil prices have dropped significantly since last summer.
Last June, OPEC basket price was about $108, but on May 27 it was traded at slightly above $60. Last winter, OPEC basket prices even dropped to $40.
Iran used to export 2.5 million barrels of oil per day before the imposition of Western sanctions. According to OPEC reports, Iran's oil income was about $115 billion in 2011, but it plunged to about $61 billion in 2013 after the country's exports dropped to one million barrels per day.
Statistics of the Central Bank of Iran also show that the country's oil income was above $118 billion in Iranian fiscal year 1390 (March 2011-March 2012). The country's oil income fell to $68 billion next year and to $65 billion two years later.
There is still no report published about Iran's oil income in the past fiscal year, but the fall in oil prices in the second half of 2014 indicates that the country's oil income has decreased in the past year and is expected to fall further in the current year.
Saleh said that the administration of President Rouhani is planning to find ways for creating sustained sources of income, mainly through promoting tourism and economic activities.
The administration has forecast to earn as much as $8 billion in tourism revenues this year. Masoud Soltanifar, the director of Iran's Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization, said on May 16 that the country's tourism income will become equal to oil income by 2025.
"We can easily attract 20 million tourists and generate a $30 billion income," Soltanifar said.